my house for a moment there, i thought those were my daughters, hello everybody i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. patti ann: i'm patti ann brown in for jenna lee, we are in the fox news room, "happening now", in the debt showdown, both sides digging in their heels before the debt defaults week away and the entire state of the u.s. economy hanging in the balance. now the president vows to keep calling meetings on cutting the the decifit and raising the limit on america's credit card until there is some sort of agreement. gregg: but the gop is standing firm against tax increases, while the president and democrats insist it has to be part of any equation that cuts benefit programs, for example, medicare, and house speaker john boehner, well now, he is squarely blaming the president, saying the debt limit is his problem, adding that the president talks a good game, but when it comes time to make these tough decisions, he can't quite pull the trigger. patti ann: and wendell goler

right now is live at the white house with the very latest on the the debt debate. hi wendell. >> >> reporter: hi patti ann. it's going to be almost as hot in the cabinet room as it is out here, when the president and congressional leaders meet for the third day in a row to try and come up with a plan to cut the country's decifit. both sides have spent the past two days taking swings at each other, the president in a news conference yesterday before the talks accusing republicans of refusing to compromise and being afraid to take a little political pain. he said it's time to take the bandaid off, to eat our peas, today, republicans return the favor. as you say, speaker john boehner saying the debt ceiling is the president's problem and senate republican leader mitch mcconnell saying it's the president who's putting the country at risk of default. >> this president has proven that he will do almost anything to protect the size and the scope of washington, d.c.'s burjonning bureaucracy. including to threaten the economic security of every american by backing us up to the edge of default.

>> democrats say it's not future spending that's an issue in raising the debt ceiling, it's paying the bills run up by past presidents and congresses from both parties, treasury secretary tim geithner said again today, failing to raise the debt ceiling is not an option and he said the president is offering to compromise. the president has made it clear that, as i said, this is going to require some very difficult political choices for democrats and republicans. he's put on the table things that are very hard for democrats to accept. he's taking a lot of political heat for doing that and he's going to stay in that position, but it won't work unless you see similar spirit of compromise from republicans. >> reporter: boehner and other republicans say a balanced package is not raising the debt ceiling for higher taxes. they say it's raising the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts. the president says raising -- cutting the decifit by cutting spending alone risks

actually slowing job growth and triggering another recession. guys, back to you. patti ann: wendell golor, live at the white house, thank you. gregg: for more on the debt showdown i'm joined by senator orrin hatch, a republican from utah who's a ranking member of the senate finance committee. senator, thank you very much for being with us. >> happy to be with you. gregg: isn't a deal in the end having to -- going to have to involve taxes in some way? maybe not raising rates, but closing some of the egregious tax loopholes and eliminating some of the taxpayer subsidies? >> well, i don't want to get into on the -- they're talking about eliminating tax expenditures. tax expenditures are what congress has decided is good policy, things like being able to deduct your charitable deductions. or be able to deduct home interest payments, or businesses being able to deduct their payment for health care. i mean, these are all important policy decisions. they're not loopholes.

now, where there are loopholes we ought to try and get rid of them, there's no question about it, and i'm for asking at everything, but i want to do it in the overall general tax reform. rather than healther scelter. gregg: do republicans really want to be in the position of defending especially in the upcoming election, tax breaks for healthy hedge fund operators, as well as rich oil and gas companies, not to mention, yes, the corporate jet owners? when ge makes $14 billion in profits, but pays no taxes at all, is that something that republicans really want to defend? >> well, keep in mind, what the president wants to do is hit people in those kind of brackets and that includes 800,000 small businesses where all the jobs are created. now, you can talk about corporate jet tax. my gosh, that's $3 billion over ten years. it would take 3000 years to reach as much money as they've blown down the drain in their so-called stimulus over the last year or so. i mean, this is the type of

people we have in the white house. you can't trust them. if you give them money, they're going to blow it and they'll blow it for political purposes to advance their cause and get people to believe that they're doing what's right. gregg: we don't have the other side here today, but i want to introduce the other side, your colleague, kent conrad, a democrat, chairman of the budget committee, gang of six, member of the fiscal commission, he said this on the senate floor yesterday. take a listen. >> okay. >> mr. president, spending is the highest it's been in 60 years as a share of our national income, revenue is the lowest it has been in 60 years as a share of our national income. both have to be addressed if we're going to solve this problem. gregg: revenue, lowest in 60 years. we had our brain room doublecheck that, they say it is, in fact, accurate. so doesn't that militate in favor of some kind of a revenue increase, senator in. >> remember he's talking about spending being over

25 percent. last time we spent that much was at the height of the second world war, back in 1945. with regard to revenues, revenues will come back to 18 1/2% if we just allow the economy to go, and we quit doing all kinds of big spending programs and so forth. look, they talk about being able to bring the economy back in line, but their idea is to get more taxes so that they can spend it. and i guarantee you, the democrats will spend every dime of it. they're not going to conserve. that's why we have to hold the line on no tax increases, and we've got to get the spending cuts in order to send the message out. if we have spending cuts, i think the market and everybody else will start saying hallelujah, we're going to come out of this and do very well. gregg: senator, one more question, the club for growth, a progrowth, low taxes group, is now targeting you. in fact, they point to your lifetime rating at 74 percent, placing you at the bottom of republicans serving.

are you the next republican in trouble with your own party? >> well, i'm surprised that they'd blow their money trying to take me down, because their own people have voted -- their leader voted for, you know, for increasing the debt ceiling and a lot of the things they're accusing me of. but i don't know where they get that 74 percent. i have a 90 percent american conservative voting record over the years. i got 100 percent on a whole bunch of other things. and if you look at -- you know, i'm not just one or two years. you've got to look at 35 years in the united states senate. and by any measure, i'm considered one of the top conservatives in the history of this country. and i don't know what they're doing. all i can say is they're wasting their money and they ought to go after democrats who are really putting us in this bad condition. >> senator orrin hatch, thank you for speaking with us today. >> nice to be with you. patti ann: a fox news alert. tragedy almost strikes again at a major league ballpark,

a fan at baseball's home run derby in phoenix barely escaping a 20-foot drop due to the quick reaction of his buddies who grabbed him just in time. the near tragedy happening the same day memorial services were held in texas for a fan who fell to his death at the rangers ballpark last week. alexis vance of ksaz is live with more on this latest incident. hi alexis. >> reporter: hi there. yeah, we are right outside of case field where the all-star game is happening tonight but all the talk is still about last night's home derby and the name keith carmichael, his name is all over the place. he's from a small town in kingmon, arizona and came to phoenix to go to the home run derby with his brother and a friend, and they were pretty serious about catching these baseballs, one, because he took off his shoes, and two, he had already caught three balls that night. so that was what they were

there for. and he got on top of a narrow metal table, about 18 inches wide, and when he lunged forward for a ball hit by prince fielder, with the milwaukee brewers, he lost balance and fell head first over a railing. luckily, his brother, the friend, and some other fans that happened to be around caught him and held him by his legs. it was about a 20-foot fall on to a pool deck, if he would have gone over. he did not. thankfully, he's doing okay this morning. but he said when he was about ready to fall over, his life kind of flashed before his eyes, and he thought to himself, well, you know, i've had a good life. but you know, he's way too young to be thinking like that, and not very smart to be lunging for a ball. but like i said, he is doing okay this morning. security did come over to talk to him. if you look at the video, he had a beer in his hand, and he didn't spill the beer at all during the lung but he had a beer in his hand, so

maybe he could have been drinking, maybe that played a role. security did come over and talk to him and did let him stay in the game, he was not kicked out, but definitely not a smart move by him at all. luckily he had his friend, brother and a couple of fans to basically save him from a 20-foot fall. patti ann: you would think that people would be more careful in the wake of this latest tragedy. maybe this will wake some people up. alexis vance, reporting live, thank you. gregg: there's a new report revealing major gapping in our databases overseas terrorist, this represents apparently a very serious problem for the u.s., considering many plots against us like the 2009 christmas day underwear bomb attempt, remember that, that one originated abroad. national correspondent catherine herridge live from washington, you're the first person to get this new gao report. what have you learned? >> reporter: thanks gregg. fox news attained the gao report that will be officially released tomorrow, it's more than 50

pages long and the findings come down to four points. some countries have not addressed the growing problem of fake documents such as birth certificates that are a gateway document to a genuine passport, passport security is generally weak with many countries using no security features such as biometrics, then there's corruption. pakistan is a good example of a country where information sharing among known and suspected terrorists is still lacking. >> it is stunning that pakistan, which is supposed to be our ally in the war against terrorism, does not even share fingerprint data within its own government. it doesn't share it with other pakistanis -- pakistani law enforcement agencies. that's a real problem. >> reporter: so the bottom line is that we can pour billions of dollars into our airport security but the overall system, of course, is only as good as the weakest link, gregg. gregg: the senator said this issue is more now. what has changed in that regard? >> >> reporter: let's take

the example of the underwear bomber, it's a good example of a foreign national, in this case a nigerian, who came through yemen and on to amsterdam before he boarded a flight on christmas day in 2009, the american cleric, anwar al-awlaki, the first american on the kill or capture list was the first man there, abdulmutallab, and the bomb maker. >> the threat is far more diverge than it was -- diverse than it was a decade ago. now we have the affiliate group, like al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, that are increasingly capable of striking us, and that is why preventing terrorist travel is so important. >> reporter: and just for context, this al-qaeda group in yemen was responsible for the last two attempted plots against the united states. not only the underwear bomber but also the cargo printer bomb last fall to bring down a jet over the united states, and its the

source of intelligence that they -- that wanted to embed explosive devices in bombers to invade airport security as it stands. gregg: interesting stuff. catherine herridge, first to get her hands on t. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. gregg: the debt showdown not only affecting our economy but how the battle on the hill can affect medicare in the presidential election. we have that live story coming up. patti ann: chaos in train stations in san francisco. what sparked the protests? >> gregg: and julie is live at fox noot dom with three videos. >> we are giving our viewers a chance to decide what news you want to hear on "happening now". take a look at our three hot tapes of the day, the first one, one of my personal favorites, this toddler was left home alone, fell off of a balcony, was in a coma for ten days. that's not the one, by the way. that's actually someone who actually has magnetic abilities. that's magnet boy, guys.

that's the wrong video. but i'll tell you about him in a second. but a chinese toddler fell, in a coma for ten days, finally wakes up, opening his eyes for the first time, miraculously surviving after passersby caught him after he fell ten stories. >> a dramatic ending to a car chase. we'll tell you the details as that scene unfolds. and guess where? california. >> and superpowers, this little boy, he doesn't have them, but somehow, forks and all metals stick to his chest. how does that happen? our hot tapes, next.

gregg: "happening now" a near riot breaking out on a san francisco subway platform when demonstrators protesting the fatal transit police shooting of a homeless man, trying to keep trains from leaving the station. julie banderas has more. >> reporter: demonstrators protesting the fatal

shooting that man we saw on a barth platform causing major delays in san francisco and what an angry crowd on the platform. they stormed into the civic center station. as you can see, that guy right there, actually climbing up on top. a cop eventually got him down. they had riot police down on the platform, trying to provoke the officials there, shouting epithets. then they reconvened at another station nearby, determined to prevent trains from running on schedule. they were protesting the july 3rd killing of a 45-year-old transient who allegedly threw a bottle at 2bart officers, then pulled a knife before one of those officers shot him to death on the civic center station platform and that is where the protestors gathered to march, shouting no justice, no peace, shouting several different racial epithets, writing pigs kill, kill

pigs, that was written in red paint on one of the columns near the bart gate, bart raid igs trying to get home, prompting officials to close gates, to prevent overcrowding. all service was returned to normal last night by 8:00 p.m. gregg: what a may lay. julie, thanks. patti ann: it has been the democratic rallying cry on negotiation and the debt. no cuts to medicare. one reason, democrats see it as a winning issue in the 2012 elections, and the popular alternative to congressman paul ryan's gop-backed budget plan. but now, president obama is showing signs he's willing to make some compromises on medicare. so how will this play with the democratic base? chief washington correspondent jim angle is live in our d.c. bureau. jim, you are following a hearing on capitol hill on medicare. so what's the latest? >> reporter: well, this was intended to be a hearing really about the independent payments advisory board which as you'll hear in a moment is sort of a backstop for cutting costs but it's also about the overall

situation with medicare. lawmakers of both parties and health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius agree that medicare is financially unsustainable with tens of trillions more in promises than taxpayers can possibly pay for. but they differ over how best to save the system and the taxpayers. the administration puts a cap on medicare spending in the out years and if spending is greater the independent payments advisory board will recommend ways to cut. listen: >> our tap will not ration share, shift costs to seniors. in fact, the board is specifically forbidden by law from making any recommendations that would ration care, reduce benefits, raise premiums, or raise cost-sharing, or alter eligibility for medicare. >> reporter: now, what that means is that the board could only reduce payments to providers, but chairman paul ryan pointed out that under the new health care law medicare is already paying less than others and headed down, now reimbursing

at 80 percent of what private insurance pays, headed down towards 66 cents, then down to about half of that. ryan argued that will not work. >> providers are just going to drop medicare. i don't know what you call that, but i don't know -- it's rationing in a different word. because if you say to the provider we're not going to pay you anything close to what it costs to provide the service, they're not going to provide that service. >> reporter: so republicans and some democrats here on the board will make it harder for seniors to get care in the first stop, it is intended to be a backstop provision but as we can see over the wrangling of the debt limit and the screams of the entitlement spending, getting congress to override that board would be a tall order. patti ann: jim angle, live in washington, thanks. gregg: well, did you notice? it's scorching hot out there. all over the country. and the extreme temperatures are no joke. you have to be careful out there. we have a doctor in the house to tell you how to keep your family safe and

how hot will it get? meteorologist mita molina will tell us.

gregg: all right. it is brutally hot weather right now, baking two-thirds of the country, with highs in some areas up to 15 degrees above average. meteorologist mita molina in the fox weather center with more. >> reporter: gregg, we're actually outside right now and trying to figure out what the temperature is in new york city. there is a digital thermometer that says it's 85 degrees. we do have our fox extreme weather thermometer saying it's already 92 degrees. it's off. we are expecting to see a high in new york at the on -- 90 degrees. factor in the humidity and it's going to feel a lot hotter, and it feels hotter

than 90 degrees and those temperatures will be hotter across the country, stretching from texas to new york city in the 90s and triple digits for some. again, factor in dew points in te 70s and 80s and it's going to be hotter. there are heat advisories from oklahoma to kansas, even texas, eastbound into the new york city area, some areas could see heat index values, especially those shaded in red here where we do have excessive heat warnings up to 115 degrees. guys, that is extremely dangerous stuff. you need to make sure that you're hydrated, that you stay out of direct sunlight. we out here are actually in the shade, thankfully, so that's helping things out for us. as far as tomorrow goes it's going to stay hot across a big chunk of the country, so still, the southern plains, southeast, we're expecting highs still in the upper 90s, if not triple digits for some like the city of dallas, texas. they by the way are looking at the 11th consecutive date today of triple digit heat. so that's something to keep in mind. many areas are breaking records left and right, one

city in particular also in northern texas did break a record for june, for 28 out of 30 days, that's wichita falls in northern texas. so again, tomorrow, still looking at extreme heat. the northeast will see a little relief, so for us here as we head into tomorrow we're going to see a high of 86 degrees. now, because of the heat, and there's also a frontal boundary across the country and also that humidity, we're going to see thunderstorms fire up today, so there's a rift as well, aside from the heat, there's a risk for severe weather stretching across montana into the carolinas and virginia. there is a graphic that will show you that. we're expecting damaging wind gusts out of some of these thunderstorms to be possible, as well as also some isolated tornadoes so a lot of weather going on cross the country today. >> plenty of ice water. beer is probably a bad idea! maria, thank you very much. patti ann. ann ann -- patti ann: temperatures this hot can be

hazardous to your health as maria was saying but there are several things you can do to beat the heat and dr. mary mccary is a physician and director of public health at john hopkins. thank you for joining us. >> thanks patti ann. patti ann: exactly how dangerous and how fatual is high heat? >> we don't talk about it much but dehydration is the number four killer in the world, often because kids get diarrhea in the developing world. in the united states, a couple hundred people die every year, which to put that in perspective, more people than die from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and lightning strikes combined, so a lot of people die from heat exhaustion. patti ann: and many are elderly or the very young. these folks, do you recommend they just try to stay in the air condition something. >> yeah, these are the most high risk population, the very young, they've got a different body surface to weight ratio and they're very vulnerable to extremes in temperature, the elderly, they are at very high risk

and these are the people that really need to limit the amount of time they spend at a barbecue or a picnic or any outdoor event. now, a lot of times when somebody comes to the emergency room with heat exhaustion, we say what happened and they say you know, i just got confused, i went on a hike, i was out playing, and i just got confused, and that's because when you get de hydrated you get light headed and lose your orientation. patti ann: we're going to go into dos and don'ts for people outside in this heat. first of all, one of the dos is stay hydrated, drink water, or flavored water. not soda. why is that? >> you don't want too much sugar. it changes the water balance in your body, and just regular water is the best thing to treat de hideration patti ann: we're going to through the rest of the tips, light colored clothing, loose clothing and a hat, also, drink in the heat, even when you're not thirsty, stay hydrated and

if you have certain conditions, stay in the air conditioning. let's go to the don'ts, no alcohol or caffeine, also sugar as you mentioned, don't go on a long hike or a swim without water, and avoid salty foods, as well. now, you mentioned that one of the symptoms of heat exhaustion is confusion. what are the other symptoms? >> well, often times people feel just a little nauseous. they feel like they need to throw up but they can't. that's probably the most common finding that we see. obviously, fatigue, but that's everybody in the world. the cdc recommends that you drink even when you're not thirsty. that is if you're in a very hot environment outside, drink 16-32-ounces a day, that comes out to about 1-2 glosses of water and anything that makes youurenate like the salty drinks or sodas or caffeine, alcohol, all of that makes you de hydrated a lot quicker than you appreciate. patti ann: good tips doctor, thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks patti ann.

gregg: the battle over union rights got really ugly in wisconsin last spring. remember? >> today, it is moving to the ballot box. we're live in milwaukee next. plus, so-called fat cats and their private jets, the big target of president obama in the debt crisis, but what happens to more than 1 million people who work in the private plane industry if higher taxes are imposed? a look at the costly unintended consequences. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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♪ delicious pringles multigrain. with a variety of flavors, multigrain pops with pringles. greg: "happening now," primary voting is underway in wisconsin's recall elections. today's vote the first round of elections triggered by republican governor scott walker's signature measure stripping state workers of most of their union rights. on the balance ot today, get this. six democrats who aren't even democrats at all. confused? mike tobin is live in milwaukee to explain. tell us the use of these fake democrats. >> reporter: it's a stalling tactic by republicans in wisconsin. they have put six of their own on the ballot as democrats in these recall elections, that way the legitimate democrats who are trying to challenge the republicans have to face a contender in the primary and it creates the need for a primary. that buys the republicans

another four weeks until the general election, gives them the ability to put a lot of distance between themselves and the contentious legislative session, let's the emotions calm down late bit, gives them an opportunity to campaign and get their message out. greg: kind of sounds crazy, but, mike, this election is really about the big union fight, isn't it? >> reporter: absolutely. these recall petitions started when the big demonstrations were happening back in the winter. now you have six republican state senators and three democrat state senators on the ballot facing recall. a lot of money is pouring in from outside. big labor organizations, national democratic organizations, conservative groups are spending money. take this district where i'm standing right now in milwaukee alone, a million and a half dollars is being spent on this race just for a special election. >> we've gone from a place that was really clean cut to a place that now is just infested with special interest influences. and these recall elections are a

striking example of how outside interest groups are influencing our elections. >> reporter: so this is the primary, the battle will continue into august when the final votes will be cast to determine if republicans will be able to hold onto the majority in the senate and continue to be able to advance the agenda of governor scott walker. greg, back to you. greg: it's fascinating as it inch than unfolds. mike, thanks very much, mike tobin. patti ann: private jets, the president and democrats have railed against them in the debt debate as a favoritism in the tax code. what would happen this the irs scrapped the jet loophole. we are live at an airport in new jersey. what would the impact be? >> reporter: well, the aviation industry says quite significant indeed. this tax break which basically allows for a larger deduction on the depreciation of the jets was first introduced in the wake of

9/11 in a way to help the aviation industry rebound. in 2009 president obama himself had it in the stimulus bill that he proposed and was approved. now the president says, wait a minute, it is a loophole. get this with regard to the aviation industry and the impact it would have if it went away. the aviation industry employs 1.2 million people, generates $150 billion in revenue, and says the aviation industry eliminating this tax break would save a mere0.3% of the deficit. the cost will be in the jobs of the mechanics, the salespeople, the engineers who make the planes. they expect sales to go down if this tax break goes away. patti ann: why is the president so focused on corporate jets? >> reporter: well, critics say because it's an easy target. as i mentioned before he actually proposed it as a positive in his 2009 stimulus

bill, it's less about dollars and cents and more about imagery and class warfare, so say the critics. same reason why the administration wants to do away with loopholes of yacht owners, and hedge managers. from the aviation industry's point of view this will cost jobs and the savings against losses doesn't add up. politically it may be correct but economically it may not be. patti ann: ashley, thank you. greg: right now astronauts are hard at work high above earth. let's take a look at some of the live pictures. they are out on the sole space lock of the latest and final shuttle mission. how exactly do these brave men and women train for something like this? kris gutierrez knows, he's live from the johnson space center in houston. >> reporter: houston is home to the world's largest indoor swimming pool called the neutral

buoyancy lab. it's 240 long, 40 feet deep and holds 6.2 million-gallons of water. it is massive. that is one tool they use to train. the other is a virtual reality lab. take a look. it looks and feels like you're playing an individual game, high-tech glasses and special gloves transmit what i see to a video monitor where instructor watch my ever move. >> you're coming right at me. >> i'm coming at you. >> reporter: on this day veteran spacewalker mike massamino shows me the ropes. shuttle crews practice their space walks using a 3-d image of the international space station. >> this is really important. it gives us an idea of what it will loo look like. this allows us to practice in an environment that is similar at least visually to what we'll see. >> reporter: astronauts practice handling heavy loads in this

facility. here a system of pulleys help me lift what would feel like a 1400-pound piece of equipment that is 1400 pounds. >> you're like a space hercules here. >> reporter: greg, it took 159 space walks to build the international space stays. back to you in new york. greg: you could have lifted that without the pullies, kris. >> reporter: hercules i am not my friend. greg: thanks very much. if you want to watch the final spacewalk of the final shuttle mission you can find it screaming live on foxnews.com. check it out. patti ann: just weeks after she officially launched her bid for the 1220gop nomination new polls michelle bachman is surging in the early caucus and primary states. we have the low down and what it means for the other gop presidential hopefuls. and we know a lot of you are heading off on vacation with your families. it's easier than ever before to take fox news with you.

go to knocks news.com/mobile, all lower case and find out how to connect with a lot of other devices. foxnews.com, your 24-hour news source. @ ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪

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tell your doctor your medical history anfind an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. patti ann: developing stories we're kaoeplg an eye on in the newsroom. the taliban claiming the responsibility for the assassination of hamid karzai's half brother. he was gunned down at his heavily guarded home in kandahar. russia opening up a criminal negligence investigation into the deadly sinking of a cruise ship. the boat was apparently overloaded at the time of the accident. 88 people now confirmed dead, another 41 still missing. hopes for finding them alive are fading today. and just days after a stun gun was found on a jetblue flight from boston to newark a lufthansa passenger is busted at jfk airport trying to board a plain with two stun guns stashed in his luggage.

greg: brand-new developments in the gop race for the white house in 2012. tea party favorite michelle bachman seems to be making substantial gains. take a look at this. in a poll conducted by a republican pollster bachman is the frontrunner in iowa, the state that holds the first caucus leading mitt romney 25-21%. while mitt romney leads in new hampshire take a look at bachman, she is surging into second-place jumping 8 percentage points in one month alone. joining us now to talk about it, larry sabato, what do you make of bachman, i guess we call her the front run tpher iowa. >> absolutely. she is the frontrunner in eye watch it will be a surprise if she doesn't carey iowa. it's made too order for her.

60% of the participants on average who show up on the republican side in iowa are fund today meant lises christians. they are conservative socially and fiscally. bachman fits them like a glove. new hampshire is a very different situation. instead of 60% fund today meant lises christians you have 23%. instead of 10% independent dents in the iowa caucus you have nearly 40% of the participants in the new hampshire primary identifying themselves as independent. that is much less malleable election right for bachman. greg: i want to ask you about sarah palin and rick perry. when do you think they need to make a decision as to whether or not to jump in, and how will that change the equation? >> rick perry needs to do what he's going to do before the aims straw poll in early august. i think he's got a degree of excitement right now.

he, by the way, would split off some of bachman's vote in iowa, making it more possible for someone like tim pawlenty to win in iowa. sarah palin if she runs, and i don't think she will, if she does she can get into the fall, she'll run a very unconventional campaign. greg: i want to ask you about mitt romney. his strategy seems to be a little bit different than anybody else. he's not making himself accessible to the press and he's holding a bunch of fundraisers. he's kind of a quiet frontrunner in a way what do you make of that? >> greg, i think it's smart. presidential candidates, like all candidates often make the mistake of anything that there is no bad publicity, all press coverage is good press coverage, it's not true. romney, as the frontrunner, and he is the frontrunner, whether you think he's weak or strong, he has decided to, as you say have a quiet campaign to raise

money, to get endorsements, to look like a frontrunner, to look presidential. that keeps him away from president obama availabilities often, he can't commit gaafs or flip-flops which can take a campaign off track tor for daysr weeks. greg: it has been said of rudy guiliani he ran the worst race in modern presidential history. eashe's apparently thinking abot doing it again. what do you say about rudy. >> he's not going to be red as president or even a presidential candidate. his time was 2008, he spent $50 million and got one delegate. and, greg, to be frank, nothing has changed. this is going to be a disaster for him if he runs, but it's a free country. greg: all right. larry sabato with a run down of potential and real candidates.

thanks very much. good to see you. patti ann: cops in los angeles launching a passive manhunt after a bold robbery at a popular chain store. the breaking details next -fpblt also an annua annual protstant e marks anger, the frightening details ahead.

patti ann: new video and information just crossing our international desk. a surge of violence in northern ireland. at least 22 belfast police officers injured as lines of riot police prevent mass catholic men and youths from

attacking nearby protestant district. they are protesting the march of the protestant march order celebrating victory or catholics. masked gunmen blow up a terminal between israel and jordan lighting up the predawn sky. no reports of injuries. the attack on the pipeline is the fourth since the fall of egyptian president hosni mubarak back in february. greg: breaking news to tell you about out of los angeles. police there launching an all out manhunt for a couple of suspects after a brazen best buy heist. julie bandaras live at the news desk. >> reporter: cops got the call before 3:30 pacific time. by the time they arrived at the west los angeles best buy store a u-haul truck was seen taking off with the l.a.p.d. hot on its

tail. the pursuit ended after three suspects ran out of the truck at electric avenue in venice. one male suspect taken into custody but two other suspects did manage to get away, they remain on the loose. they ran off on foot. the l.a.p.d. now is scouring the entire area, they have set up a perimeter, with the help of canine units, they are now searching for these two suspects, and when they find them, of course, we'll let you know, greg. greg: thanks very much. patti ann: it is called nothing short of a miracle, no one is heard when two planes collide mid wear. a rare event explained. also it's not just greece at risk in the global debt crisis, two major countries could be the next dominoes to fall and that has financial markets sinking. also the lessons for america's future coming up. greg: you get to choose which of these three hos stories you want to see, a wild car chase, guess where, where else, southern california. we'll show you the dramatic ending to this one, and, well,

let's call him magnet boy. can you believe it metal objects stick right to his skin. a miracle after a toddler falls ten stories. vote on which you want to see by going to foxnews.com/"happening now." ♪ [ slurp! ] [ female announcer ] hey, ladies, here's a little something [ chomp! ] you'll find irresistible, cinnamon toast crunch, with a delicious cinnamon and sugar taste that's amazing.

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they're waiting to hear from you, so call now. i've put this off long enough. i'm definitely gonna call about the colonial penn program. greg: fox news alert right now we are awaiting a news conference from several members of the orange county sheriff's office, all played key roles in the casey anthony murder trial. julie banderas at the breaking news december w-b desk with mor. >> reporter: there are a lot of people who want to hear investigators and what they have to say. they will speak and answer questions at the orange county sheriff's office at about 1:30 eastern today. among them criminal forensics and crime scene investigators whose testimony at the casey anthony murder trial just did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was enough evidence to convict casey anthony of first-degree murder,

resulting in a not guilty verdict. so today this group plans to answer questions about their work on the case. the circumstantial case just didn't have the dna evidence to back up the prosecution's claims that casey premeditated the killing of her 2-year-old daughter caylee. casey was found guilty of lying, though to law enforcement officers, she is expected to be released from the orange county jail on sunday after time-served. so we will await their comments and explanations, really, as to why they couldn't get a conviction in this case, greg. greg: if they found the body in august instead of four months later as they were initially told by those who discovered it could have made a huge difference in the case. >> reporter: yep. greg: july lee, thanks very much. >> reporter: sure. greg: hello, everybody i'm greg jarrett there for jon could the. patti ann: i'm patti ann browne in for jenna lee. they are blaming the president

for the debt mess and implying the real problem is the president himself. doug mcelway is live on capitol hill with more on this. >> reporter: strong indications that the gop is digging in its heels even more firmly has the debt ceiling clock particulars away from the august 2nd deadline. strong language coming from both houses of congress. listen to mitch mcconnell on the floor an hour ago. >> after discussions and months of negotiations, i have little question that as long as this president is in the oval office a real solution is unattainable. >> reporter: it makes the negotiation session coming up at the white house this afternoon potentially very awkward with. adding to the potential awkwardness of it all the remarks of house weaker john boehner. he met with republican leadership at a press conference this morning just about an hour ago as well. listen to his remarks.

>> the fact is is that house republicans have a plan. we passed our budget back in the spring, outlined our priorities. where is the president's plan? when is he going to lay his cards on the table? this debt limit increase is his problem, and i think it's time for him to leave by putting his plan on the table, something that the congress can possible. >> reporter: to repeat boehner said that the debt ceiling problem is the president's problem not his problem. it was just yesterday that boehner said on two different occasions that he agreed with the president that the debt ceiling must be raised. in response to that senate minority whip steny hoyer has said that the republicans attempts to criticize the president are absurd. while he was saying that back on the senate side new york senator chuck schumer was lambasting the republicans for their refusal to consider tax increases for the wealthy. >> a budget agreement cannot be considered bold or comprehensive

unless it asks millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations to continue to deficit reduction. they don't have to do the whole thing, but they've got to do their share. >> reporter: fox has confirmed that speaker boehner told the republican conference in a closed-door meeting this morning that he is, quote, mad as hell, clearly he's getting tremendous pressure from his base not to cave on taxes and he's sending a message back to them with remarks like that, that he has no intention to. patti ann: doug mcelway live in mark ton, thanks. greg: fox news alert texas wrong man ron paul will not run for re-election for congress. he is of course running for the republican nomination for president, and on his twitter account he made the announcement today that he will focus on his run for the white house, and will not run for re-election. a bombshell claim that some social security judges are costing taxpayers, get this.

nearly a billion dollars a year. these judges we're talking about approve very generous disability benefits in more than 85% of the cases they consider. david azman is an anchor on the fox business network and joins us here in the newsroom with more on this. what is the deal with this? is there no accountability? why would they do that. >> reporter: bingo, it relates to the whole debt issue that government is so out of control, there are so many aspects of government that people don't realize exist. when you're spending other people's money there is no accountability. 1,500 ocial security judges. we pay about $125 billion a year in disability through social security. when people are denied their social security checks nor for disability, twice they have a fact to go to these 1500 judges and make their case. in most of the cases because the judges are spending other people's money, our money they give the social security

payments out. greg: one of these judges according to the "wall street journal" and he's now actually been su suspended on put on lea. he was rubber stamping everybody, 100% disability for every case that came in front of him for the first six months. >> reporter: they reported on this judge back in may, every single one of the cases in the first six months of 2010 he adjudicated in favor of the complaint and thes. these are people who have been denied twice by bureaucrats who normally would rubber stamp. these people had difficult claims to make, in one hundred percent of the claims the judge gave him the money, our money. greg: the social security disability program ace understand it is going to run out of money completely in 2018. >> reporter: what you have to realize, this indicates that there is so little accountability in government. people who spend other people's money very often are not called to account for that spending and you think of all the new government programs, like liz warren's new consumer financial

protection agency, guest who creates her budget? not the congress. greg: she does. >> reporter: not even the feds. she does. she creates her own bulge e. she is a good woman but anybody who has that much power, spending that much of our money has to be checked and double checked. that's what our constitution is about. but it's being overridden by all these big government programs. greg: thanks very much. you can get a lot more of david later on today on the fox business network. tune in at 4:00pm eastern time when he he hosts bulls and bears with liz claiman. don't miss america's nightly scoreboard which he hoes at 9:00pm, it's a great show, i love watching it. david, thanks. patti ann: new controversy over gun control. the obama administration is rolling out new rules. they require gun dealers along the southern border to report what they sell to the federal government. some lawmakers are fighting back. they say the white house is over stepping its bounds, and taking power away from song.

shannon bream is live in washington with more on this for us. >> reporter: well the administration is steadily undertaking a number of smaller steps on gun control that are starting to raise questions within the gun rights community. the latest came late yesterday, an announcement by the department of justice that it will ask federally licensed gun shops to report the sales of certain guns. that move won praise from dennis hennigan, the active president of the brady campaign to present convenient gun violence. we hope this will craft and proceed most a new and far reaching program to prevent gun trafficking and insure the safety and security of american and mexican families alike. but the new policy also through swift backlash and criticism from capitol hill. congressman lamar smith said this. quote, limiting the second amendment rights of law abiding citizens is not going to solve the problem of guns being traffic i-card into mexico.

this rule unfairly punishes citizens inboarder states who have the right to purchase firearms to protect themselves and their families from dangerous drug traffickers and human smugglers. senator chuck grassley weighed in. says, quote the administrations continues to over reach and it's a distraction and a week less policy to allow guns to walk into mexico. the president will also deal with gun control issues, possibly with something to do with making changes with the database that is used for background checks. that is sparking reaction from capitol hill who says the president is doing an end run around congress on a very important issue, the second amendment. patti ann: shannon bream live in washington, thank you. greg: right now a mid air collision between two planes in alaska is making headlines but not as a tragedy. amazingly both planes managed to land safely with nobody on board

injured. david lee miller is live in our newsroom here in new york with more. >> reporter: the midair collision took place sunday about 2300 feet above a narrow river valley called lake clark pass. it's just a quarter mile wide. both pilots were flying without radar using visual flight rules. the two arcraft were traveling in opposite directions. one of the planes had nine people on board and was heading to anchorage. above it was a cessna carrying four people including a family that was doing wildlife viewing. the cessna's floats hit the top of the and a half virginia who he's tail. neither plain made any type of evasive maneuver. according to the owner of the piper and and a half virginia e who was not on board when the collision took place the pilot and passengers had no idea what had happened. >> they didn't see it or feel anything that was horribly out of the ordinary. they thought they hid a bird. when they got out of the plane and they looked they understood the miracle that they just saw

when the damage was. >> reporter: the damage was minor, the piper was enable to land at its destination in anchorage. the cessna float pane did touchdown prematureee at a nearby lake. it had to be towed to the dock. each year there is an average of 30 midair collisions in the u.s. that claim about 75 lives. the ntsb says midair accidents almost always result in injuries. the most deadly midair collision took place in november of 1996 in india when a saudi 747 hit a cargo plane killing 349 people. what happened sunday afternoon in alaska, greg is also one for the record books, again incredibly nobody was hurt. greg: astonishing. david lee miller, david thank you. patti ann: america's new so-called super citizens have more rights than the rest of us. we'll tell you how the children of diplomats from other countries are being granted full u.s. citizenship, plus diplomatic immunity. also some shocking secret jailhouse video showing casey

anthony's reaction when she learns her daughter's caylee's body has been found. will the public finally get to see it? let's go right now to julie banderas at the.com wall. you're tracking the choices for the must-see moment of the day. >> reporter: that's right the hot tape and we've got three of them. you get to decide which one of the stories you want to to learn more about it. let's take a look at the wall and we will he'll show you on foxnews.com. we have a toddler who tell ten stories finally waking out of a coma. we'll tell but that amazing, miraculous survival story. dramatic ending to an overnight car chase. it happened in california and of course we have the scene for you. also super powers? does a little boy we're calling magnet boys have super powers or does he just have magnetic abilities or a magnetic personality, who knows. we know a lot of you are in the mist of planning your summer vacation. we want to go with you. we want you to take us on the road. go to foxnews.com/mobile and you

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greg: right now, new information on some legal stories we're following. a florida judge deciding whether to release a controversial jailhouse video of casey anthony. the video from december 2008 shows anthony's reaction to reports that a child's body was found in a swamp area near her family's home. the court sealed the videotape before anthony's trial calling it too inflammatory. jury selection wrapping up in the roger clemens baseball trial. he is accused of lying to congress before using performance-enhancing drugs. the defense indicating that clemens may not take the witness stand, pressing potential jurors not to hold his silence against him. and a missing 8-year-old baltimore boy has been found unharmed, police discovering derek browne jr. in a vacant house. they say two men snatched the

boy yesterday. one person is in custody so far. patti ann: some children of foreign diplomats possibly enjoy more perks than the founding fathers intended. according to a new report the ones born on u.s. soil are getting so-called super citizen status. the child has u.s. citizenship plus diplomatic immunity. john fury issued this new report. thank you for joining us, john. according to your center the u.s.-born children of foreign diplomats are nottette skwrabl to receive social security numbers but there is no mechanism for preventing such issuance and in fact they are being given these social security numbers. >> that's exactly right. for the past right we've been dea big the issue of birthright and citizenship, mostly in the context of children born to illegal immigrants. there have been two sides to this die bait. my side feels that children born to illegal immigrants, temporary aliens and foreign dip plea matter are not entitled to u.s.

citizenship by birth under the 14th amendment. the amnesty side doesn't agree with all that analysis. they do agree that children to foreign diplomats should not be receiving u.s. citizenship. i investigated that further and what i found was quite shocking. that is that there is no system in place to prevent the issuance of u.s. birth certificates and social security numbers to children born to foreign diplomats. patti ann: what in fact is happening is now not only are they citizens they have more rights than citizens because they also have the diplomatic immunity. you call them super citizens. >> that's exactly right. they have all the benefits of citizenship but they have additional benefits. if they break the law they can immediately invoke their diplomatic immunity and not face prosecution here in the united states. this was never the intent of the congress when the 14th amendment was authored. it was never the intent of the states when it was rat need. and right now we have a 14th amendment that simply is not operating as intended.

patti ann: you have some immigration lawyers saying that this is rare and that a lot of these kids don't even want to be u.s. citizens, as children of diplomats they identify strongly with their parents nationality. do you buy all that? >> that's not necessarily the case. that is an analysis that has no backing, it's an opinion. we are talking about constitutional law here. it appears that we have an amendment that has been administratively erased. this is a huge problem. i'm hearing that some states may be stepping up to correct this. states are the ones responsible for issuing birth certificates. and some states are indicating that they may start asking for parental social security numbers. they may skart asking for parental occupations, right now that is optional information. some states may start collecting it if congress doesn't step up skwraot issue is enforcement. the law is in place. it does start in the hop. hospitals are not required to identify foreign sip low maths before giving them the standard birth certificate form and the parents are leaving parts of that form blank and are getting

away witness. >> under the current law they don't have to fill out the social security portion, the parents. they don't have to check anything more than a box, yes or no, do you want a social security number for your child. i spoke with the social security administration, and they said that they know it's happening, they know they are issuing them to diplomats, children of diplomats, they know it shouldn't be happening but they haven't come up with a sis epl to prevent it. none of the agencies seem to be on the same page. they say a u.s. birth certificate is the definition of u.s. citizenship. the state department says that the children are entitled to a u.s. birth certificate. there are a lot of agency confusion on this issue. patti ann: more to be explored there. you have a very extensive article about this issue right now on our website foxnews.com. jon ferre for the center of immigration stud tkaoets, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. greg: a florida couple on trial now for murder after their pet python gets loose and strangles the woman's 2 kwraoerl daughter. two more european countries heading in the same direction as

pwhrao*es. greece. can italy and spain avoid an economic meltdown? let's check in at friends at foxnews.com. >> this is fox news.com live. we are streaming live as you say 9:00am to 3:00pm every day of the week, monday to friday here at foxnews.com live. we are covering all the major stories of the day, the fight over our debt crisis and the ongoing games that politicians on both sides appear to be playing with that particular issue. we are also talking about the death of hamid karzai's half brother in afghanistan, murdered by somebody who was apparently a close confidant. we are talking about the impact that may have on the u.s. operations in afghanistan. obviously you can check out fox news.com live on any mobile device. download the fox news app for your ipad, for the iphone as

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patti ann: a dramatic new trial unfolding right now in florida. the jury has just been picked for this couple. they were arrested after a pet python killed their two-year-old child. julie banderas is at the breaking news desk with more h. >> reporter: the accused mother and her boyfriend, both charged with manslaughter and child neglect for allegedly failing to keep an 8 to the 6 albino python

from slithering out and into the bed of where a 2-year-old girl died, the python strangling her to death. they rejected a plea offer to admit guilt to manslaughter punishable by not more than ten years in prison. now they face a possible maximum prison term of 35 years if guilty on all charges. during jury selection free on a pretrial bond though were seated side-by-side apparently whispering to each other. the judge started the morning about 21 perspective jurors. by the way orlando is where this is happening. sort of reminds you of another famous trial we've been covering here. some perspective jurors eyes widened as they learned the case they had to decide involved a python that killed the child. all eight said they heard something about the case.

the judge asked if they would put aside what they heard on the case and go only on what they hear in the courtroom. two mentioned they had grandchildren that, that would be a factor for them. the python gypsy, by the way, will not appear at the trial, the assistant state attorney had said that he didn't want to create a circus in the courtroom, so instead they will show photographs of the serpent to the jurors. five women and two men eventually chosen from the jury, they began to hear opening statements at 8:30 this morning. patti ann: tragic case, thanks. greg: investors are dumping the euro as europe's debt crisis threatens to inch gulf italy and spain. bob o'brien is writer for barons.com. good to see you. there is financial and political chaos in many countries throughout europe right now for one primary reason, the countries that are on the

presentedgefail to reign in the. is that our future? >> i don't think we are in the same dramatic straits that say greece is in, or spain or italy, greg, keep in mind i think a lot of people don't even realize that their portfolios, even their money market funds might have exposure to some of the bank debt, the government debt and that they could be on the hobby. is the u.s. going to be more responsible than greece? hard pressed to say anybody is going to be less responsible than greece. greg: timothy geithner and others including the president have said if we don't meet this deadline to debt ceiling by august 2nd we could default on our debt. i did a little math and i want to put it up on the screen. here it is. compare revenue versus debt expense. over the past 12 months through april net interest expense of the federal government was 213.1 billion. over the past 12 months through april the trerb lee collected

2.27 trillion in revenue. there is plenty of money to make the debt payments if the ceiling is not raids. is all of this just scare mongering about a default. >> i think so, greg. this is just more political brinkmamship. the administration wants to force the gop to sit down at the negotiation table, they are using, tossing around these dramatic terms like default. everybody thinks -- my personal circumstances, if i default i'll lose my house, my car, my savings, so, yeah, i think there is a lot of fear-mongering taking place here. greg: as i read the law the treasury is required by the 14th amendment to make payments on principle and interest. i know you're not a lawyer but for our sraours let's put it up on the screen. here is the 14th amendment. the validity of the public debt of the united states authorized by law shall not be questioned. now, i talked to a constitutional law expert who says that that gives the

treasury secretary the authority to borrow money even if we don't raise the debt ceilingment because the constitutional amendment triumphs any debt ceiling. >> we obviously will be forced to make these payments. you have to payoff your bond holders. you're not going to leave them in the wind or you won't be able to continue to operate the government. as you say we have the resources to be able to do exactly that, however, i don't think that anybody wants to test the validity of that initiative, i don't think anybody wants to go to court over this. they'd rather negotiate a solution because i think if you go into that august 2nd deadline without some sort of a resolution of this. then the two sides just dig in their heels and become that much more intractable. greg: what tells me we are not going to default, the ten-year treasury note has slid down to 3%. >> yeah. greg: if we were going to default it wouldn't be that low. >> it would be 8, 9, 10%.

the equity's market won't have rallied the way it did the previous two week. they would say we are headed for economic collapse, i better start hedging my bets here. and they are not doing that. we had a bad day yesterday but that is more a moratorium of what is going on in europe. i don't think we were trying to say that the u.s. is going to face a greek-like collapse. greg: nothing to fear but fear itself. thanks very much. patti ann: one of the most powerful men in afghanistan is a sass senated. hamid karzai's half brother shot dead at his home. we'll talk about how his death could damage the stability of the entire country. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced.

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patti ann: a dangerous heat wave is now scorching two-thirds of the country. highs in some regions climbing up to 15 degrees above average. meteorologist janice dean is tracking it all in the extreme weather center. >> reporter: everyone should get ice cream for lunch today, because it is going to be really hot across, really, half the country. look where we have heat advisories posted across the ohio river, the tennessee river and the mid mississippi river. heat advisories, heat warnings where it feels like the heat and humidity combined over 100 degrees, 100-115 degrees in the areas you see shaded in red. unfortunately, this heat is going to stick around for yet another day. be look at the current heat index. this is what it feels like right now if you're outside. 108 in be st. louis, 114 in

nashville. so extremely dangerous, patti ann. we're urging everyone to stay indoors and find an air conditioner close by. back to you. patti ann: janice dean, thanks. gregg: condolences pour anything from around the world to the president of afghanistan following the assassination of his half brother. he was the most powerful man in southern afghanistan, the birthplace of the taliban. and his death leaves a power vacuum that could prove to be dangerous. david piper is streaming live from kabul. hi, david. >> reporter: hi, gregg, yes. the taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination, but afghan officials say it was, in fact, done by a close confidant who was part of his security team. now, he's survived several assassination attempts before, but it's not clear at this time who was actually behind this successful one. president hamid karzai says his half brother's assassination reflects the suffering of all

the afghan people. general david petraeus, the commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan, also offering his condolences saying the international security assistance force will help the afghan government bring justice to those involved in the killing. the u.s. embassy in kabul also issuing a statement condemning the killing. karzai was, for years, a very controversial figure in this country. there were persistent allegations about his links to the opium trade and private security firms. american documents leaked by wikileaks last year described him as a drugs baron. president karzai always managed to protect his younger brother despite a longstanding campaign over the past few years by western governments to try to get him removed. privately, many nato officials detested him and saw him as the embodiment of the corrupt government that is helping the insurgency. but u.s. special forces are

believed to have favored him as he had no problem with them roughing up taliban militants. and the reality was if u.s. forces wanted to get anything done in the city of kandahar, they more often than not had to go through the younger karzai. it's the most important battleground in afghanistan at the moment with thousands of extra u.s. troops having been brought into the area over the past year to try to pacify it. now, the younger karzai will not be missed by many people in this country, but perhaps the u.s.-led forces may miss him. back to you, gregg. gregg: david piper streaming live from kabul, thanks very much. patti ann: new information on that bruising battle over the debt ceiling coming from our senior producer on capitol hill. he says house speaker john boehner told the house republican conference the white house does not share his seriousness about dealing with these problems. at the same time, boehner wants to make it clear to the tea party that he is not willing to

accept any new taxes. well, debbie dingell is a member of the democratic national committee, and karen hen ready is a member of the democratic national committee. thank you both for joining us. debbie, we just heard the republicans aren't budging, but we also heard president obama say i don't see a path to a deal if they don't budge, period. so neither side budging, both blaming the other for the impasse. isn't this just a game of chicken? >> well, i don't think it's a game of chicken, i think the country's future is at stake. and so when i hear the senior producer just said the democrats and president obama weren't exited to resolving it -- committed to resoing it, there is nothing that could be further from the truth. president obama's remained committed, he's putting himself into these negotiations. this is the most serious thing we are facing as an economy and a country right now. patti ann: just to be clear, the senior producer didn't say the democrats aren't serious, the senior producer said that john boehner said the democrats aren't serious. karen, the republicans point out that when this all started, the

obama administration just wanted to raise the limit, no strings. and republicans said they wouldn't vote yes unless it was accompanied by spending cuts. so wouldn't we be having this conversation at all about how to reduce the debt if republicans hadn't set this condition? >> no. we would have having this conversation if president obama had not produced a budget earlier this year that increased deficit spending, if democrats who control the white house and the senate had taken this issue far more seriously at the beginning of the year. you know, we were all talking about this debt ceiling vote back in november and december of last year. this is no surprise to anyone that we're at this point. the problem is very little has been done, everyone knows that there are structural problems with the spending in america. democrats don't want to tackle it. they'd like to use it as a political football in the 2012 elections in senate races and in the presidential election, and i hope, you know, i think republicans are going to stand

firm, and i think at the end of the day president obama will blink. i think he will force democrats to come up with a short-term plan because the buck stops with him, and that's what voters know. patti ann: debbie, both sides are now conceding it's not responsible to increase someone's credit if they don't have the money to pay it back, so the debate now is over what to cut. it may not be pretty, but isn't it good that we're finally tackling our debt? >> yes, it is good that we're finally tackling our debt, and i hope there isn't any elected official alive that doesn't know that we have to reduce that deficit spending. both sides have been talking about the need to do this, and i want to say that if you thought the president was playing political games, you wouldn't have seen him talk about entitlement reform last week. we've got to come to the table. this is america's future that we are playing with. we do have to make tough cuts. and what the president wants to make sure of is that we're not hurting everyday americans as we're doing those cuts, but making the difficult decisions. patti ann: we're going to have to leave it there, debbie, karen, thank you both so much for joining us. >> thanks a lot.

gregg: we're keeping an eye on what's happening on capitol hill. democratic women in the house are standing behind the democratic leader, nancy pelosi, insisting on no cuts to medicare and social security. now, you'll recall that president obama had made mention last saturday of cuts along those lines. nancy pelosi had, essentially, cut the president off at the knees saying absolutely not, not going to happen at least not in her body of congress, the house. so we'll continue to follow what's happening there on capitol hill. in the meantime, powerful storms tearing across the midwest. thousands left without any power in the summer heat. the latest on the damage is next. and a wounded army ranger is just a short time away from being honored at the white house. his brave actions on the battlefield earning him the nation's highest award for valor. his story is next.

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>> coming up on "america live," the investigators in the casey anthony case are about to speak out for the first time. we expect them to tell their side of the story and respond to charges that the case was just too weak for the jury to convict. that is live here at 1:30 p.m. and two prominent democrats accuse the gop of being anti-women. this while two of the most powerful women with an eye on the oval office happen to be republicans. we're going to discuss that. and a story we think deserves more attention today. a saudi national had to be tackled and subdued on a commercial flight after spending half an hour in the bathroom with reports of wires being seen on this individual. we're going to tell you what this one is all about. and the back and forth on the debt is getting heated. all that live coming up at the top of the hour. patti ann: new information on stories we're keeping an eye on across the u.s. police identify the officer shot dead yesterday in tear hot, indiana.

officer brent long was helping to serve an arrest warrant when the suspect allegedly opened fire. the officer died several hours later. in california an extradition hearing for a reality tv producer accused of killing his wife in mexico. defense attorneys want to call his 6-year-old daughter to the stand. federal prosecutors are expected to argue against the child's appearance. and in northern illinois, thousands of customers are without electricity. repair crews from three states are working to get the power back online after strong winds and driving rains pounded the region. gregg: and right now we are awaiting a very special ceremony at the white house. army sergeant first class leroy arthur petrie is about to receive the medal of honor for his remarkable actions during combat in afghanistan. and it is the nation's highest award for valor. chief washington correspondent james rosen joins i live with the details -- joins us live with the details. >> reporter: with today's east

room ceremony, the sergeant will become only the second living recipient of the medal of honor to have serve inside the iraq -- served in the iraq or afghanistan wars. it was back on may 26th, 2008, that then-staff sergeant we try was the senior noncommissioned officer on the scene during a daytime helicopter raid about 60 miles south of kabul. the mission was to clear a set of buildings of the terrorists believed to be inside. fox news has prepared an animated graphic roughly what happened next. as petri and lucas robinson cleared the final target, they came under fire with two terrorists. robinson was hit on his side, petri was shot once in each leg. then one of the terrorists lobbed a grenade. he threw it back as the terrorists, but it detonated, and his right hand was amputated

on the spot. another specialist took a gunshot to the head in this operation, he died. all of the terrorists were killed by u.s. forces. the survivors all attested that the sergeant saved their lives. even as he lay wounded, he radioed for help, and his comrades who rescued him said he was still giving them instructions. >> he did not consider the long-term repercussions. without hesitation, he did what he could to neutralize that threat by grabbing it and throwing it away. >> reporter: private robinson and sergeant higgins have since both left the army to attend college. the sergeant remains in the service, and his fellow rangers say the married father of four plans to continue his career in an army uniform. unbelievable heroism. gregg: what a brave man. all right, a well deserved award. james rosen, thank you. >> reporter: thank you, gregg. patti ann: grim details in the trial of an alleged serial

killer in ohio. the disturbing testimony that could cost defendant anthony seoul his own life. and we know a lot of you are heading off to vacation with your families. well, it's now easier than ever to take fox news with you. go to foxnews.com/mobile and connect with your cell phone, smartphone or any other device. , hey, the new guy is loaded with protein! really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure hh protein. ensure! nutrition in charge!

gregg: stomach-turning testimony today in a shocking murder trial. take a look. this man, anthony seoul, accused of killing 11 women and dumping their bodies near his cleveland home. julie has more. >> reporter: hi there. yes, the ex-corer in who did more than 5,000 autopsies before she retired testified on the five autopsies that she did in the murder trial of anthony so well. and on the stand she provided

disturbing details of the ways in which some of the women were brutally murdered, an electrical cord, a shoulder strap, a piece of cloth and a belt were used to strangle four of the alleged victims of a man charged with killing 11 women in all and dumping their bodies around his house in ohio. the 51-year-old convicted sex offender has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted. three victims were buried in sowell's backyard, and the fourth was found under a pile of dirt in sowell's basement. the fifth case involved the skull of a 25-year-old female victim which was found in a pink plastic bucket in the basement of sowell's house. she also testified that the bucket held pieces of lint, gravel and dust and showed evidence of nonhuman bite marks around the edge with only the skull available, though, she told the jury she had considered the overall case in ruling that long's death was caused by homicidal violence.

the victims disappeared between the years of 2007 and 2009. many of them struggled with addictions and troubled lives, sadly. sowell, who's a former marine, i might add, and earned two good conduct medals was released from prison in 2005 after serving 15 years for attempted rape. greg all right. julie, thank you. patti ann: casey anthony will be getting out of jail in just a few days, so coming up what some of the investigators involved in the case have to say. also on the way, your choice for today's must-see moment. will it be a dramatic car chase, the boy with the magnetic personality -- metal literally sticks to his body -- or the baby that fell ten stories and survived? [ male announcer ] members of the american postal workers union handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year. that's about 34 milli pounds of mail every day.

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or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. gregg: fox news alert, the white house briefing is underway right now. the press secretary, jay carney,

a little fired up here saying it is not a democratic problem, not a republican problem, an american problem if we don't raise the debt ceiling. the american people will suffer, he said. we're monitoring the news, we'll give you more as we get it. and julie is here for the must-see moment. i think i know the winner. >> reporter: oh, that's because i told you in the commercial break. patti ann: he guessed it before that though. >> reporter: magnet boy. gregg: had to be. >> reporter: it turns out he has some special ability. he did not swallow a nag net, folks -- magnet, folks, but somehow, some way all that metal sticks to his chest. gregg: that could be dangerous if you've got knives around. look at that, a whole pot sticks to him! there's got to be a physiological reason. patti ann: he'll never lose his cell phone. [laughter] >> reporter: i'm always losing my blackberry. or anywhere to my body. anyway, so that's the must-see

moment of the day. patti ann: thanks for voting on that, folks. tmz reporting sherwood schwartz, who created gilligan's island has died at age 94 of natural causes. he was surrounded by his family including his wife of, get this, 69 years. a good life. gregg: and there's gilligan's island. the captain, skipper, gilligan, ginger -- >> reporter: oh, my gosh. patti ann: and don't forget mary ann. gregg: can't go wrong with beginninger. thanks for being with us today, "america live" begins right now. martha: and we start with this fox news alert on the debt standoff on capitol hill right now. we are just getting some breaking news on some possible major developments in this that could have a huge impact on today's white house negotiations. we are now awaiting a news conference from senate gop leaders, and we are told that republicans will announce a new strategy to solve the nation's de